MAY 2006 ı goodreading 47 coffee table Classical Destinations: An armchair guide to classical music is published by Viking, rrp $49.95 Puccini’s piano in his villa at Torre del Lago Puccini, which is now a museum The life and work of Johann Strauss II is celebrated in the Vienna home where he lived and composed his most famous work The Beautiful Blue Danube. This violin is one of the many displays of Strauss memorabilia in what’s now called The Danube Waltz House. The villa that Giacomo Puccini bought in the village of Torre del Lago, which has since adopted his name. Unwanted babies were deposited through this chute at the Osperdale della Pietà, Venice, an orphanage for girls that was attached to the Chiesa Santa Maria della Pietà. Antonio Vivaldi, who was also a priest, taught music at the orphanage.